Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Building a vision of life without work (2015)

livingafi.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

341–350 of 436 posts

Re: Building a vision of life without work (2015)

#341

Post by grecy »

legohead wrote: post #136
zoba wrote: post #67

I was 2nd employee at a unicorn startup and have been on a work-hiatus for almost a year. Now, I live amongst Amish people in the country. My biggest insight has been a mindset change. Previously my underlying approach to life looked like: "I will do X which will enable me to do Y so that I can finally do Z." I now approach my days with "What will make me happy?" This is an experiment I'm performing. A structured lif…

I know exactly what makes me happy -- playing video games, eating good food, living in a nice climate (CA or Hawaii), and traveling the world. Unfortunately my happiness comes with a price tag.

> Unfortunately my happiness comes with a price tag

It doesn't have to be a very high one though.

I quit my job and spent 2 years driving from Alaska to Argentina. I poked lava with a stick, paddled with icebergs, climbed a 20,000ft active volcano, surfed, etc. etc.

It cost $1,200 per month for absolutely every expense [1]

Before the trip I was earning $48k CAD (about $38k USD).. I just didn't spend much.

Later on I quit my job and spent three years driving all the way around Africa (35 countries around the perimeter, 54,000miles). I rode a camel and camped in the Sahara, I carried Chimpanzees, saw gorillas, petted a cheetah, saw tens of thousands of elephants in the wild, heard to lions roaring while sitting around the campfire, surfed, hiked, ate street food with friendly locals, etc. etc.

That trip cost about $1,650 per month for absolutely all expenses. [2]

Before that trip I was earning $72k CAD (about $57k USD). Again, I just tried hard to save and not spend much money while going to work for years)

I've met plenty of people that have driven their own vehicle to 100+ countries over a ~decade for about $1,500 a month. It doesn't have to be expensive.

Now I do this "for a living". I keep my expenses low and have adventures around the world. I just flew to Australia, and I'm preparing now to spend about 18 months driving all over to all the wild and remote corners I've heard about but have never seen.

[1] http://theroadchoseme.com/the-price-of-adventure

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeR3SncZkv0

Re: Building a vision of life without work (2015)

#342

Post by mrigor »

ddlutz wrote: post #322
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> do you have the risk-tolerance like this guy to say "fuck it, it will all work out," He posted a follow-up blog post years later. Sadly, it didn't work out for him. He had to return to work. I agree with your general sentiment: Some of these extreme early retirement stories are really pushing the limits reasonable amounts of money to retire with. I don't think it's reasonable for people in their 30s or even 20s to…

people in 20s and 30s spending usually should go down in retirement, right? Ideally you have no mortgage and depending on your situation save 1.5k-4k a month post-tax right there.

Spending usually looks like a smile curve, high at first (travel, hobbies, toys) then low (done all the things) then high (medical bills).

Re: Building a vision of life without work (2015)

#343

Post by mrigor »

danbruc wrote: post #184

This seems unethical to me, you essentially make other people work for you. All the returns from your investments are created by someone who probably does not have the luxury of retiring early, someone who now not only has to work for their life but also for yours.

It seems like an ethical move if you agree with Peter Thiel's model of stagnant US. Since we don't grow anymore, the only way for advancement is for others to step aside. We're not creating new spots from expansion like in the 50s. So taking up high earning spots to accumulate above self sustaining amount is taking jobs from others that haven't reached their FIRE number (which could be seen as unethical). This doesn't apply to new/growing fields like tech.

Re: Building a vision of life without work (2015)

#344

Post by zoba »

xikrib wrote: post #338
zoba wrote: post #67

I was 2nd employee at a unicorn startup and have been on a work-hiatus for almost a year. Now, I live amongst Amish people in the country. My biggest insight has been a mindset change. Previously my underlying approach to life looked like: "I will do X which will enable me to do Y so that I can finally do Z." I now approach my days with "What will make me happy?" This is an experiment I'm performing. A structured lif…

I'm in a similar situation; the company I worked at was acquired a couple of months before the pandemic. The sale gave me enough money to retire a few times over, 2 days after my 30th birthday. I initially went through a long period of guilt. I've tried angel investing, impact investing, doing hackathons, applying to fellowships and launching side-projects. I've realized that a lot of the skills I've gained in the la…

I’d love to hear what you’ve been doing with music. I got a Minilogue XD and a couple Other smaller synths. My email is the crazy looking link in my profile, would love to hear from you.

Re: Building a vision of life without work (2015)

#345

Post by [deleted] »

benhurmarcel wrote: post #306
mgh2 wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We were built to work, to have purpose. Having meaningful work is key - this is what the FIRE movement misunderstood. By meaningful, I mean to someone other your yourself or your extended self (family). Our purpose is to serve others, not ourselves.

We weren't built, we just happen to have evolved. There is no higher purpose. See, your life philosophy isn't universal.

[deleted]

Re: Building a vision of life without work (2015)

#346

Post by sidlls »

babyblueblanket wrote: post #296
sidlls wrote: post #249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That depends on the region and industry. Outside of "tech hubs" like the Bay Area, most software jobs paying close to six-figures are still more like "business casual, butt in the seats" than they are "WFH 2x/week, wear sandals and shorts if you want". These jobs have things like accrued PTO, limited perks, and relatively inflexible time-off tolerance that is highly dependent on the manager's whim. "Not difficult" is…

I heavily disagree, especially in current times. "small startup" culture happens outside of tech hubs if you look, especially anywhere that's close to a state university with any substantial CS program. Trying to recruit new grads as a small company in an ok-but-not-hub city means bending some QOL considerations, especially in demand jobs like devs.

"Small startup"s are the last place I'd look for the kind of work-life balance required to actually enjoy the fruits of one's labor. You're trading a stable work week for perks at that point--differently bad work environments, in this context.

Re: Building a vision of life without work (2015)

#347

Post by milliondollar »

UncleOxidant wrote: post #290
zoba wrote: post #67

I was 2nd employee at a unicorn startup and have been on a work-hiatus for almost a year. Now, I live amongst Amish people in the country. My biggest insight has been a mindset change. Previously my underlying approach to life looked like: "I will do X which will enable me to do Y so that I can finally do Z." I now approach my days with "What will make me happy?" This is an experiment I'm performing. A structured lif…

> As an example, turns out I really enjoy building dams. Sorry to go off on a tangent, but this really has me wondering. How big of a dam are we talking here? Is it actually legal to build a private dam?

I owned a dam. Worst deal of my life, as it was regulated by the town, state, and feds.

Touching anything on it required permits from multiple agencies at each of the above.

Be careful doing ANYTHING with water, as that is regulated by feds, states, and ofen localities. Wetland regulations are extremely restrictive. And wetlands are often not wet! (Depending on where you live, state and local often try to "out green" each other by layering on even more restrictive regulations.)

Re: Building a vision of life without work (2015)

#348

Post by selestify »

zoba wrote: post #130
mikepurvis wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having done it now for a year, it sounds like you're pretty happy with how it's going. Are you satisfied with what you've achieved? Or is part of the mindset shift that you're just not thinking in those terms any more and are looking only to the day to day? In my working life, I've only ever taken about a month off at a time, but every time I've taken a longer break like that, I end up ultimately feeling dissatisfied…

I'm quite happy with the outcome so far. Though, my aims are humble. My intention for this period of life (however long it lasts) is to live 'organically' and observe the results. My primary observation is that I'm happy consistently - something that was inconceivable with my old style of X to Y to Z goal planning. In your second paragraph you mention trying to be as productive as possible during your time off. Seems…

My main worry is that I won’t save enough for hard times in the future if I’m living organically without much future planning. Have you ever had fears like that?

Re: Building a vision of life without work (2015)

#349

Post by milliondollar »

carbonclan wrote: post #324
milliondollar wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in a similar boat. Not outrageously rich, but rich enough that I won't spend it all before I die. Work in a highly lucrative industry, which bores the hell out of me. I took a couple years off. Built a house, moved in, then.... I was definitely hit with a lack of purpose. I'm back to work now at old career trying to figure out "what to do with my life" again. There was a Catch-22 for me, in that "working" at any…

Purpose is so key! While I agree to the work life balance…. I have spent a good 6 years completely consumed 100% into work just coz I felt it was my calling! In the bargain lost out heavily in my personal life. But not sure if I regret that…. After that there was such a huge burnout, I’m still recuperating…. Is purpose overrated? Or does it put one off balance?

I am starting to believe "purpose" as related to work is mostly a giant con. Sometimes we run it on ourselves. But we are all dust in the end. Does the project or business that we are working on really matter?

Re: Building a vision of life without work (2015)

#350

Post by staticman2 »

gonehome wrote: post #251
opportune wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

See this is still blaming the problem on some kind of externalized illogical other you aren’t willing to understand (just replace “partner falling for Instagram lies” with neckbeardy EvPsych) rather than empathizing with the other person’s opinion. Like if your partner directly tells you they are unhappy because of XYZ, rather than thinking it’s stupid/some part of how the woman brain works (eye roll), it seems prett…

I think we agree more than we disagree and you're being more hostile than necessary. > "it seems pretty clear that not doing anything to fix XYZ - in this case working again and living more luxuriously - is being a bad partner." Yeah - and the why is the bit I was getting at. They have a core value disagreement here, it's likely to be a common one given sexual selective incentives and behavior. I'm not making a moral…

It's an open question whether anything in the evolutionary psychology field should be given the label "likely the truth."
Post reply on HN